A concrete structure stands incomplete at Kushalipura Darra, a village on the highway connecting Sawai Madhopur with Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh. The structure was meant to be developed into a "temple" in the memory of two young men from nearby villages who were killed in police firing during the Gurjar quota agitation in Rajasthan about 15 years ago.
The two men-Kanhaiya Lal (23) and Radheyshyam Gurjar (22)-are remembered as "martyrs" at their villages, Chan and Dumoda respectively, in Sawai Madhopur's Khandar tehsil. They succumbed to injuries sustained in a police firing on May 30, 2008, as they participated in a protest organised by their community on the highway. Rajasthan had the BJP government led by Vasundhara Raje at the time.
The families of the two men have received a compensation of Rs 5 lakh and a government job each. They now want construction of the proposed 'temple' in the duo's memory to be completed soon. "The forest department has stopped the work of installing a shade over the structure. Statues of Colonel Kirori Singh Bainsla, the founder of Gurjar Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti, Kanhaiya Lal and Radheyshyam will be placed inside this temple," said Radheshyam's younger brother Rajendra Gurjar, 27.
Rajendra got married to his elder brother Radheshyam's widow Bhuri Devi in 2010. "It was a love marriage. We got it registered at the court. She works as a peon at the tehsil office," he said. She got the job after her husband's death.
The residents of Chan and Dumoda complained that neither the sitting MLA from Khandaar, Ashok Bairwa of Congress, nor the BJP candidate, Jitendra Gothwal, have visited them even once in the past five years.
At Chan, about 12 km from Dumoda, Kanhaiya Lal's elder brother Chiranji Lal, 40, said the two youths' death remains a painful sore for the locals. "My brother was shot in the eye. A bullet hit him when he was trying to save Radheshyam," said Chiranji Lal, who works as a peon at the tehsil office. "Kanhaiya had gone to our sister's house in Dumoda. While returning home, he joined the group that was protesting," he added.
His son, Surender Gurjar, 27, a graduate, said the Gurjars want the 5% MBC reservation to be implemented properly. "We do not want any amendment. We are grateful to Col Bainsla for everything he did for us," he said.
The state government granted a 5% quota in government jobs and education to the MBC groups in 2019. Villagers said barring free power (up to 100 units), they have not received benefits of most of the welfare schemes.
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